Unca' Dego
by KaylaDestroyer
Summary: Over the course of two nights, Diego spends some quality time with his little mammoth niece Peaches, and reveals to her alone a secret about his own upbringing.


Hey guys! So, I'm thinking I might actually be doing a sequel to 'More Than a Coincidence', and I have started chapter 10 for 'Who's Boy?', it's actually ben started for a while now, but I just started this randomly and I could make a longer story out of it, if you all think so. Anyway, here's another one-shot about Diego, only this time it's concerning his niece! Enjoy! (even if you don't like anything else about my stories, at least try to enjoy this one please! I know some people are probably very annoyed that I did this.)

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><p>Unca' Dego<p>

Diego was totally unaware of everything around him. In a calm, content state of unconsciousness, he wasn't paying attention to anything. Then, a small sound penetrated his ears. It was very small, so he dismissed it quickly, but as it grew louder and louder, he couldn't help but notice it. Frowning, he opened his eyes and looked around at the different members of the herd. Sid was near him, sleeping in an odd fashion on a slab of bark. On his other side, Manny laid against the cave wall with Ellie and Peaches on the side opposite to Diego.

Crash and Eddie were curled up on Ellie's back. The small campfire Sid had made was nearly burnt out. The sound had ceased for some reason, so Diego laid his head back down and closed his eyes. However, the sound started again, and he flicked his eyes open in irritation. After a moment, he realized it was Peaches. His eyes widened in surprise as he realized that neither of her parents were affected by their daughter's whimpers. After a moment longer of laying on the ground, he silently arose and crept over to the little mammoth girl.

She lay nestled in Ellie's trunk, shivering, crying. Diego instantly felt pity for her. He looked up at Ellie, and gently nudged her. "Ellie? Ellie, wake up!" he urged silently. Ellie moaned and moved her head. Diego prodded her with his paw.

"Ellie, come on! Peaches needs you!" he hissed urgently. Ellie gave no reaction. Diego sighed in despair, and looked down at the five month old. Alternating between watching Ellie and focusing on Peaches, he bit his lip and eased the girl out of her mother's grasp. He then shuffled backwards out of the home cave, cradling Peaches in his arms. Once at a safe distance, he turned his back to the home cave, and looked back up at the stars.

"Peaches?" he whispered. "Wake up, it's okay." he urged. Peaches blinked her tearstained eyes and looked up at him sorrowfully.

"Unca' Dego?" he asked. Diego nodded and dried her eyes.

"What were you crying about?" he asked her. Peaches sniffled before replying.

"I had a scary dream where Unca' Sid got 'tacked by these weird cree-chers." Diego smiled kindly down at her.

"Oh, is that all?" he asked. "That's nothing to be afraid of, it was just a dream, none of it was real." he soothed. Peaches sniffled.

"But, it all seemed so real." she replied.

"That's just a trick of your mind." Diego replied, gently tapping her head. "You see, your mind wants to organize your memories from what happened during the day, but it has to distract you from all that, so it sometimes takes a few elements from those memories and uses them along with other stuff to make a dream. So, if you had a day where there was lot's of funny stuff, I guess you would have a funny dream that night. Or if something happened that scared you, or someone told you about something scary, then you might have a scary dream, like tonight." he explained. "But it's nothing to worry about." he assured. Peaches stared up at him innocently as he spoke.

"Wow." she finally said. "Where do you learn all this stuff?" Diego laughed.

"Many different things. I'm a lot older than you, Peaches. I learned thing from my parents, or friends of my parents, or just adults that me and my family were very close with, or personal experience." he replied. "You'll do the same as you grow, and listen to your parents, and learn from things that happen to you." Peaches nodded. She snuggled up against the saber.

"Unca' Dego, will you sing me a song?" she asked in the sweetest little voice Diego had ever heard. The problem was, he didn't know any lullabies. He thought for a moment.

"Um, well, I know a song I think you would like." he said, remembering one of his favorite songs that his mother would sing to him sometimes. Peaches settled down comfortably, and waited for him to begin. Diego began with a hum, then, "Da-da, da-da, da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da! Da-da, da-da, da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da! Shipwreck in a sea of faces, there's a dreamy world up there! Dear friends in higher places, carry me-e away from here! Travel light, let the sun eclipse you. 'Cause your flight is about to leave!

"And there's more to this brave adventure, than you'd ever believe! Bird's eye view! Awake the stars 'cause they're all around you! Wide eyes will always brighten the blue! Chase your dreams, and remember me sweet bravery 'cause, after all those wings will take you up, so high. So bid the forest floor goodbye as you race the wind and, take to the sky!" Diego paused for a moment, and gently cradled Peaches's chin in his paw.

"You take to the sky!" he repeated. Peaches smiled up at him. "Da-da, da-da, da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da! On the heels of war and wonder, there's a stormy world up there!" Diego began using arm movements to amplify the meaning of the words. "You can't whisper above the thunder, but you can fly-y-y anywhere! Purple burst of paper birds this, picture paints a thousand words!

"So take a breath of myth and mystery, and don't look back! Bird's eye view! Awake the stars cause they're all around you! Wide eyes will always brighten the blue! Chase your dreams, and remember me sweet bravery 'cause, after all those wings will take you up, so high. So bid the forest floor goodbye as you race the wind and, take to the sky!" Peaches was staring at him in awe.

"You take to the sky!" Diego repeated, gazing up at the star filled sky. Peaches followed his gaze. "There's a realm above the trees, where the lost are finally found! So touch your feathers to the bre-e-eaze! And leave the gro-ound! Bird's eye view! Awake the stars 'cause they're all around yo-ou!

"Wide eyes will always brighten the blue! Chase your dreams, and remember me sweet bravery 'cause, after all those wings will take you up, so high. So bid the forest floor goodbye as you race the wind and, take to the sky!" Diego sang. "Da-da, da-da! Da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da! Da-da, da-da, da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da! You take to the sky!" he finished. He looked sown to see that Peaches had fallen asleep. Smiling, he lay on the ground in a comfortable position, holding his niece close, and fell asleep as well.

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><p>Manny looked around the cave, turning in a complete flustered circle before shaking Ellie awake violently. "Ellie! Ellie where's Peaches?" he exclaimed. His mate woke with a start, and went into her own tizzy. Manny smacked Sid over the head, waking the sloth.<p>

"Wha?" he asked, startled.

"Have you seen Peaches?" Manny asked. Sid rubbed one eye sleepily.

"No." he moaned. Ellie shook her brothers awake, causing them to whine.

"Whatever it is, we didn't do it this time!" Crash said, blinking his eyes open.

"Have either of you seen Peaches?" Ellie asked.

"No, have you bro?" Eddie asked. Crash shook his head.

"Hey, where's Diego?" Sid suddenly asked. They all turned to look at the saber's normal sleeping place, to find that he indeed was gone. Ellie went pale.

"Manny, he wouldn't…" Manny started out of the cave entrance.

"Not unless he had a good reason." The rest of the herd trailed out after him, all nervous. They found Diego's footprints, and followed them only a few yards away from the cave. The saber was laying, presumably asleep, on his side, his back to them. Sid gulped, and the possums hunkered down behind Ellie's hair. Manny, with a determined frown, strode up and tapped the saber's shoulder rather harshly, but received no reply. He was about to smack him as he had with Sid, when he saw the other, shielded side of the feline.

He froze momentarily, before smiling, then laughing. He turned back to the rest of the herd. "Get over here, just be quiet." he said. Glancing at each other, they made their way over, and peeked over the side of their cat comrade. There, in Diego's protective grasp, Peaches was snuggled up against her uncle's chest, smiling in her sleep, her trunk around his neck. Sid smiled and clasped his hands.

"Aw, they look so adorable!" he exclaimed softly. Ellie gave a sigh of relief and patted Diego's head.

"He's got a heart, even if he doesn't like to show it." she said. Even Crash and Eddie smiled at the sight. Diego suddenly yawned widely, causing everyone to jump.

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><p>Diego awoke the next morning in the same position he had fallen asleep in. He smiled down at Peaches; he really did love the little mammoth girl, in an uncle like way. He gently kissed her forehead, sure he was alone with the sleeping child. He stroked her head lovingly. "Peaches," he said gently. "time to wake up." She opened one eye and looked up at him.<p>

"Huh?" she asked.

"We gotta' go back home." Diego replied. Peaches opened her other eye and smiled up at him, then chuckled. Diego raised an eyebrow at her. He released her, allowing her to stand, and sat up himself. He bumped into something tall, and wide. He reached behind himself and felt it. Thick, furry; this had to be another animal.

His heart stopped when he realized who it could be. He slowly turned around to see Manny towering above him, with Ellie standing on one side of him, and the possums on her head. Sid stood on Manny's other side. He gulped and smiled sheepishly. "Heh, hey Manny." he said. He could assume what the mammoth had thought upon waking up and discovering him and Peaches missing. Surprisingly though, they were all smiling down at him.

"That was very… sweet of you, Diego." he said. Diego leaned back a bit, fearing the mammoth would lash out at him. "I'm sure Peaches liked getting a kiss from someone she loves." Diego's mind went blank with surprise, then embarrassment clouded all his thoughts. He could feel his cheeks going scarlet, redder even, if it was possible for them to be seen as any shade other than dark scarlet through his fur. Peaches giggled behind him, and the whole world seemed to stop.

"Um, uh, I, well, it's," he fumbled. Crash and Eddie snickered, and Diego began to feel woozy with embarrassment. "She was asleep, it wasn't like she was going to… I, I thought you all were home…" His vision began to swim as Sid began to laugh. Diego thought he was going to faint, but regained his composure. He frowned. "Oh sure, _you_ all can do whatever you want with Peaches, but when _I_ want to show that I care about her, it's like watching a comet that passes earth every million years!" he snapped.

Ellie placed a trunk on his shoulder.

"Calm down sweetheart." she said.

"Yeah, we won't tell anyone." Crash said, causing Eddie to snicker.

"But can you imagine what people would think if they knew?" he asked. Diego growled at him.

"Nobody's telling _anyone_ _anything._" Manny stated firmly. The possums were disappointed, but Diego was grateful. The different members of the herd dispersed to go about their day, but Peaches gave Diego a hug before joining her mother for breakfast. Diego smiled tenderly and hugged her back, before letting her go. Manny chuckled at them, before joining his mate and daughter. Diego smiled after the three, mostly Peaches, before turning to go hunt.

"If you're that good with mammoths, I wonder how good you'd be with cubs." Sid said. Diego turned to look at him, sitting a few feet away next to a berry bush, smiling at him. Diego scoffed and rolled his eyes.

Sid, it's _never_ gonna' happen with me." he stated. He walked away, his nose searching for scent trails of something worthy to be deemed his breakfast. "_I'd sure be a willing guardian if Manny and Ellie had an unfortunate death though._" he thought to himself. "_She's a real angel. Not that I'd be any real help. Whoever heard of a saber raising a mammoth?_" But Diego had to admit, while he would mourn the death of his mammoth friends, he would always be ready and willing to take charge if they both died before Peaches fully matured.

"_I've seen less strange though._" Diego was a predator, but who's to say that he was raised his whole life by other sabers? Cats and dogs don't usually get along, but they weren't usually savage to small cubs.

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><p>Later that night, as the rest of the herd slept in a cave, Diego trotted up to a small overhang a few meters or so away. The full moon shone down brightly, illuminating Diego's fur, giving it an unearthly silver glow. He smiled as he felt a small breeze whisk through his fur. And with it came the faint sound of singing. But it was not ordinary singing. The song only consisted of one word, and it was copied by many different voices. Soon though, as the moon reached its highest point in the sky, the song changed from singing to real, pure howls.<p>

Wolf howls. Diego would never forget his true family, his mother and father, brothers and one sister. Neither though, would he forget the animals who had treated him like real family, and taught him how to surpass barriers that, as far as he knew, no other saber could. The howling was clear and loud, no longer needing a breeze to carry its sound to the saber. Diego lifted his muzzle to the sky and joined them. His own 'song' mixed easily with theirs, ensuring that no one nearby would assume a saber to be sitting up on that ledge. However, the home cave happened to be situated just so that if you looked straight up at the ledge, you could see that someone was occupying it.

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><p>Peaches was awoken a second time during the night, not by a dream of any sort, but by a sound. She realized it was wolves howling. Her father and uncle Diego had told her about wolves before, and while her father had seemed more concerned on making sure she knew how dangerous they were, although probably not as dangerous as sabers, Diego had wanted to tell her about them in other aspects. How beautiful they looked, how smart they were, hunting in a pack by strategy, and how caring they were to their cubs. As well as how the cubs liked to play with each other, and everyone considered each other a brother or sister. Her father of course had stared at him like he was crazy, but kept quiet. Suddenly, another howler joined the pack, and they sounded very close to the home cave.<p>

Peaches gulped, but made her way over to the opening of the home cave and peered around. Looking up at the small cliff ledge up above their home cave, she could see a figure standing, hard to make out against the background of the night sky. She took a chance, as her saber uncle often encouraged her to, and walked the few meters to the small overhang. Diego had always tried to teach her to keep an open mind and a large storage of courage. Although she was unsure he would have supported her doing this, alone at least. As she came closer, she realized that the figure on the ledge was a saber. Looking back, she realized that Diego was not in the home cave.

Continuing forward, she hoped that it was her uncle up there and not some strange saber. Even Diego had told her that sabers were dangerous, and that they weren't all as, 'understanding', as he had put it, as himself. She need only look at his long teeth to be assured that, backed up by a fierce temper and blood thirst, a saber was not someone to have a friendly chat with if you happened to come across one. Shivering now, she crept up the ledge, able to see that the saber's fur was the same color as her uncle's. She felt calmer; perhaps it was her uncle after all. The howling had stopped, and the figure was silent. Gulping, she drew as close to them as she dared, and asked quietly, "Unca' Dego?"

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><p>Diego paused as the pack paused, probably waiting a moment to catch their breath, when a small voice asked from behind him, "Unca' Dego?" Diego whipped around to see Peaches standing a few feet away, looking at him fearfully. He smiled and extended a paw as an invitation for her to come closer.<p>

"Well well Peaches, what are you doing up so late?" he asked softly. Peaches smiled in relief and came to sit next to him. Diego wrapped a foreleg around her.

"I heard the wolves singing, it woke me up." She replied.

"Ah yes, wolf song is beautiful." Diego agreed.

"I heard you too, I thought you were another wolf at first, but then when I cam out here I saw that you were a saber, so I wanted to see if it _was_ you." Peaches said. Diego looked down at her in surprise.

"Did you now?" he asked. Peaches nodded, smiling.

"Unca' Dego, if you're a cat, how come you can howl too?" she asked. Diego smiled. As the pack started up again, Diego joined them, holding Peaches close and stroking her. He could feel her inquisitive eyes boring into him, wide with awe. When all was done, Diego glanced back down at his niece, then looked up at the moon.

"Peaches, when I was really little, I got separated from my family." he started. There were certain details he didn't think she needed to know. "And I was very lonely. But you know what?"

"What?"

"This little wolf cub found me, and brought me to his father." Diego continued. "And his father took me to the leader of his pack."

"Was it a big pack?"

"Yes, it was very large, I was quite afraid."

"You? _Afraid_?" Diego chuckled.

"Yes, I was a very, _very_ small saber, smaller than _you._" he replied. "But the wolves were very kind to me, probably because I was a little kid and they assumed my parents were close by. I told them that I was… separated from my family, so they decided to keep me."

"They kept you?" Diego nodded.

"They taught me to howl; said I was the only saber in the world that could do it."

"Wow. Do you think mammoths could howl?" Diego shrugged.

"Don't know. Maybe if, like me, you grew up in a wolf pack almost your entire childhood and they tried to teach you, you could learn. But it's hard. I think the only reason I could do it was because, as a saber, I can roar. I can't remember exactly how my adoptive mother tried to explain how I managed it, but, I learned. I howled with the pack every night; we were all family, we all cared about each other." Diego paused, staring up at the stars.

"Could I try?" Peaches asked. Diego smiled at her.

"Sure. It's very similar to singing, but, there's just something different about it. It sends a different feeling down your vocal cords."

Peaches looked up at the sky, then let out an, "A-oooooooooooooooooooooooooo!" that startled a nearby knighting gale. Diego chuckled. "How was that?"

"Good for a beginner." Diego replied. "But you know what, it sounds more like them singing than howling, and that's pretty fun."

"You mean wolves sing too?" Peaches asked. Diego nodded.

"I'm sure if, I brought you to my pack one day, they'd like to hear you sing." he said. Peaches smiled.

"Ooo, ooooo, ooo, oo." She sang. Diego smiled. As Peaches sang, he lifted his muzzle and howled once more, the wind carrying their song some distance away, and catching the attention of nocturnal creatures. And for that moment, Diego felt totally, completely, indescribably, absolutely, wonderfully, contentedly… happy.

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><p>So, was it good? Any better than my last random one-shot? I've also started the next chapter of 'Ice Age: New World, New Problems' if that makes any of you happy. Review!<p> 


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